1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to browser technology.
2. Background Art
Computer software frequently provides a throbber (e.g., spinning hourglass, beachball, etc.) while a resource loading is in progress. This masks the fact that the software does not know how long the task will take to complete. Modern web browsers use such a throbber while a resource (e.g., page) loading is in progress. However, because the activities of the browser are masked behind the throbber, the browser may feel slow as a result. For example, a SAFARI browser available from Apple, Inc. has a not-enabled-by-default throbber, a circular progress meter, in the location bar that circles uniformly as the connection proceeds. An ITUNES application available from Apple, Inc. also has a meter that uniformly circles as a connection proceeds. These uniform throbbers are unable to visually communicate the ‘waiting for server to respond’ state of a transfer, and do not animate during that period of time.